Box and handle



Aug. 18, 1964 J. RDBITAILLE BOX AND HANDLE Filed June 12, 1963 INVENTORJacques ROBITAILLE A TTORNEY United States Patent 3,144,981 EUX ANDHANDLE lacques Robitaille, 1781 Boudrias St., St. Laurent, Quebec,Canada Filed June 12, 1963, Ser. No. 287,317 1 Claim. (Cl. 2'29--52) Thepresent invention relates to improvements in the attachment of cord orbraided handles for portable receptacles, such as collapsible cardboardsuit boxes or the like.

While the broad idea of providing a flexible handle of flexible cord orsimilar material on a collapsible cardboard container is old and wellknown, the actual attachment of said handle is still a time consumingoperation which necessarily adds to the cost of producing such items.Generally, flexible handles of this nature consist essentially of alength of flexible cord or rope, braided or otherwise, which is attachedto the inner flap of a box of the type described by the attachment ofthe two free ends leaving a loop which is later passed through suitableopenings in the outer flap of the box to complete the closure andprovide a carrying handle. The attachment of the two free ends of theflexible cord has been attempted in many ways, for example, they havebeen passed through openings in the inner flap and then stapled, oradhesively secured, with or without an additional cover flap; othershave passed the free ends through grommeted or reinforced openings andthen the ends knotted so that they cannot be withdrawn. These and otherexpedients known to the applicant still require considerable time andmanual operations for their proper attachment which, as noted above,adds to the cost of making such boxes, particularly when produced inproduction quantities.

The present invention aims to provide a solution to this problem which,while being simple, provides a means whereby such handles can beattached easily and quickly to a prepared box construction of the typedescribed.

More specifically, the inner wall or flap of the box, or at least theportion of said flap where the handle is to be attached, is made ashaving a double-ply construction constituted by an inwardly foldedextension of the box flap surrounding the periphery of the inner half,or article holding section of the box. This inner ply or flap extensionis provided with a cut-out portion, and at each side of the cut-outportion, an opening, of sufiicient diameter to accommodate the cord,with slits extending inwardly from the free edge of the inner ply tothese openings. The outer ply, or regular flap of the box, is providedwith an elongated slot at each end of which there is provided a furthercord accommodating opening which registers with the openings provided inthe inner ply when the two plies are folded over into juxtaposedrelationship. The free ends of the cord lengths are pro-knotted eitherby hand or by machine so that their attachment is a simple matter ofsliding one knotted end into each of the inner ply slotted openings andpulling the resultant loop upwards through the slot in the outer ply sothat the ends slide outwards into the outer ply openings. The knottedends are thus prevented from pulling outwards from the inner slottedopening and the handle is attached.

Having thus generally described the nature of the invention, particularreference will be made to the accompanying drawings showing by way ofillustration a preferred embodiment thereof, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective elevation, showing by way of example,a folding box construction embodying a flexible handle attached inaccordance with the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the construction shown in FIGURE 1 asseen along the line 22 to illustrate the handle attachment of theinvention in more detail.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view corresponding in location to FIGURE 2 withthe box sections shown in partially closed condition with the handlepartially threaded through the outer box portion flap.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged detailed view of the inner box portiondouble-ply flap at the section to which the handle is attached showingthe pre-knotted ends within the slotted openings of the inner ply withthe loop portion partially pulled up through the outer ply.

FIGURE 5 is a view in plan of portions of the blank making up thefolding box construction shown in FIG- URE 1, these portionsconstituting the two plies for the outer flap and the corresponding twoplies for the inner flap showing the cord receiving and retainingopenings in both portions.

With particular reference to FIGURE 1 of the drawings there is, shown byway of an example, a typical box construction 10 embodying a flexiblehandle construction in accordance with the invention. The handle 12,which is preferably made of a flexible plain or braided cord of anysuitable material, is securely attached to the inner flap 13 of the box10, and is drawn through the outer flap 31B of the box It to completethe closure when the box is in carrying condition as shown.

It will be appreciated, that while the box shown is of the collapsibletype usually employed for holding dresses or the like when sold tocustomers, that the handle attaching arrangement of the invention isequally suited for other types of boxes that have the same generaloverlapping inner and outer flaps or side walls when assembled.

The main feature of the present arrangement resides in the manner inwhich the inner flap 18 of the box arrangement shown is provided withregistering openings to accommodate the handle 12. As shown most clearlyin FIGURES 4 and 5, the portion of the blank 29 making up the inner flap18 of the box 11 is provided with a first set of openings 22 havingslots 24 extending to the outer margin of the flap section which willconstitute the inner ply 18a and a corresponding set of openings 26connected by an elongated slot 27 having an enlargement 27a in thesection which will constitute the outer ply 18]). When the plies 18a,1817 are folded along; the line 19 the inner flap of the box will looklike the construction shown in FIGURE 4 with the outer margin of theinner ply 18a facing the bottom wall 21 of the box it The portions orlengths of flexible cord or the like utilized for the handles 12 arepre-cut to the desired length and each free end is pre-knotted either byhand or by machine, this latter operation in itself being an importantfeature in the saving of time and labour. This prepared length is thenformed in a loop and passed through the enlargement 27a of the slot 27while the ends 1242 of the cord are placed into the slots 24 until thecord fits into the openings 22. It will be noted that a clearance notchor cut-out 25 is provided between the openings 22 to facilitate entry ofthe cord loop upwards through the slot 27. A slight pull on theextending loop 12b will pull the legs of the loop outwardly into theopenings 26 completing the handle attachment without the necessity ofany further gluing, stapling or knotting operations, as is common inprior art arrangements of this nature. The handle 12 is held securely inplace by the engagement of the knotted ends 12a with the undersurface ofthe inner ply 18a, and is prevented from sideways withdrawal out of theslots 24 by its engagement with the outer ply 13b.

The outer flap 3-41 of the box construction shown is also of double plyconstruction having plies 38a, 3h]; with the outer ply 30b beingprovided with openings 126 connected by a slot 127 corresponding to theopenings and slot provided on the inner flap. The inner ply 3th: isnarrower than the outer ply 30b and in addition is provided with amarginal cut-out 31 to permit the loop 1% to be pulled up into theopenings 126 when the box construction is in closed position.

A further advantage in the present handle attaching arrangement is that,if desired, the handles can be shipped separately to the stores ormanufacturers and can be made up in several diflerent colours if desiredso that if a store or manufacturer wishes to apply a distinctive handleat any desired time he can do so easily and quickly at the time oferecting the box from its usual collapsed shipping condition. When thehandles are attached in the box manufacturing plant as is usual, theloops 12b can be pulled inwardly flat against the outer ply 18a tofacilitate stacking or packaging for shipment.

I claim:

A flexible handle construction for a cardboard box having interconnectedportions provided with overlapping top wall flaps, characterized in thatsaid handle comprises a length of flexible cord, or the like, havingpre-knotted free end portions, and that at least the portion of theinner one of said box top wall flaps to which said handle is to beattached is of overlapping double-ply construction having an inner plyfolded beneath an outer ply, said flap inner ply being provided with apair of spaced openings of suflicient diameter to accommodate thediameter of said flexible cord with slots extending from the free edgeof said inner ply to said openings said inner ply free edge being alsoprovided with an inwardly extending cut-out between said inwardlyextending slots to provide clearance for passage of said cord whenformed in a loop, and said flap outer ply being provided with acorresponding pair of spaced openings in register with said inner plyopenings, said outer ply openings being interconnected by a slotextending therebetween whereby said flexible cord length is engaged withsaid top wall inner flap by sliding said preknotted ends within saidinner ply inwardly extending slots until said ends are within saidspaced openings, and by pulling the resultant cord length loop thusformed upwardly through said flap outer ply openings interconnectingslot until said ends are within said second spaced openings preventingsideways withdrawal from said inner ply engagement; said box top wallouter flap having corresponding spaced openings connected by anelongated slot adapted to accommodate the upward passage of said cordlength loop when said box is in closed and overlapped condition, saidtop wall outer flap also being of double ply construction with the freeedge of the inner ply provided with an inwardly extending cut-out ofgreater length than said cord accommodating spaced openings to provideclearance for the passage of said cord loop upwardly through saidopenings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,975,453 Fink .c Oct. 2, 1934 2,992,768 Gatward July 18, 1961 3,017,841Fink Oct. 22, 1963

